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Can a deck be too cheerful?


dust

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This is a question that has been on my mind for some time. When you're reading with "happy" decks (bright colours, fun/cute imagery) do you feel like it skews your reading? Does it make things feel too optimistic or sort of pad out your answers?

 

I've read with gloomier, "dark" decks before and I know it's possible to get pleasant and positive readings from them, but how easy would you say the opposite is? I'm curious.

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I think there is multiple parts of this as an answer 😀

 

1. I love a bright coloured deck and so that sort of deck is to my taste. So it helps my reading. I wonder if a deck is not to someone's taste if it does make it harder to read or no connection. So personal taste about the artwork could improve/ skew the readings.

 

2. Some decks by some artists are only positive! Doreen Virtue famously did this with some of her decks. This has been discussed a lot in the tarot community but I don't believe you can get a good balanced reading for someone with only cheerful cards! It has to have light and dark. Some decks have cheerful and happy artwork but still have a proper balanced tarot structure. I don't think you can read on an issue with an only happy deck! But you could use it for a daily positive message or something like that.

 

The key really is if there are still negative cards! Life isn't always nice or kind, cards must reflect that reality.

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NOTHING that is too cheerful really works. I won't touch a "no bad cards" deck. I want to get answers, not be led down the primrose path, and sometimes a timely warning can help us avoid trouble.

People still watch The Little Princess because it isn't just Shirley Temple being cute and cheerful. There's child abuse and neglect, and her father is horribly injured in the Boer War and presumed dead for most of the movie. If a lightweight, escapist story like The Little Princess needs events like this, how much moreso a deck that should reflect real life? 

Colors - I like colors. I don't think they necessarily make a deck too cheerful - look at the Albano. 😉

As for the artwork, one of my favorite decks is the Fantastic Menagerie. The characters are anthropomorphic animals in clothes, but that's where the cuteness ends. There are pimps, flim flam men, kidnappers...not all of the characters are bad, but the deck has a definite edge and it reads true. Yes, the artwork is cheerful in some ways - it always makes me laugh when I recognize people, especially a boss or political figure. But it isn't new age, and it isn't a kiddie deck.

As for decks that are not to my taste, I just don't use them.

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I agree with the posts above.

There are so many decks on the market these days, so to find a deck that fits personal tastes shouldn't be a problem.

But, are decks for divination only a matter of art? I don't think, and at times this can be the issue with all the new decks which constantly appear.

I personally love colored cards. Additionally, a minimum of 10 years old to be sure that the deck is working? Or 18 or 21 years (the majority 😁)?

 

Otherwise, yes, a balanced deck of course, so with negative cards because not everything is positive in real life.

But on the other hand a tarot like the Tower Takeover Tarot is also a little problematic according to me 🥴

Creativity is fine, I don't say the contrary, but...

m_60aea55867bd9180d4eb2de8.jpg

Edited by Decan
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42 minutes ago, Decan said:

I agree with the posts above.

There are so many decks on the market these days, so to find a deck that fits personal tastes shouldn't be a problem.

But, are decks for divination only a matter of art? I don't think, and at times this can be the issue with all the new decks which constantly appear.

I personally love colored cards. Additionally, a minimum of 10 years old to be sure that the deck is working? Or 18 or 21 years (the majority 😁)?

 

That actually sounds like a good rule of thumb. If a deck is still around after 10, 18, or 21 years and readers you respect are using it and saying it works well, it's not a flash in the pan. 😁
 

42 minutes ago, Decan said:

Otherwise, yes, a balanced deck of course, so with negative cards because not everything is positive in real life.

But on the other hand a tarot like the Tower Takeover Tarot is also a little problematic according to me 🥴

Creativity is fine, I don't say the contrary, but...

m_60aea55867bd9180d4eb2de8.jpg

 

That's just pointless and boneheaded. 🤣
It's a gag deck, but it's a dumb gag deck: "HURR HURR ALL THE CARDS GOTS THE TOWER. GET IT? HURR HURR."

 

fox licking GIF

 

 

 

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Gosh @Decan a deck where you can pull the tower or the tower or the tower 🤣

 

I am sure I once saw a film or comedy sketch where every card in the deck was RWS The Lovers and so the reader always gave a positive love reading :lol:

Edit: just remembered it was Father Ted and every card in the deck was La Mort and the fortune teller dealt 3 death cards with the line "I always thought there was just one death!"

 

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23 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

Edit: just remembered it was Father Ted and every card in the deck was La Mort and the fortune teller dealt 3 death cards with the line "I always thought there was just one death!"

 

The bit starts at 2.33

 

 

Oddly, the actor who played Father Ted dropped dead after the season 3 wrap party.

Edited by devin
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Ha, I guess I should clarify, I didn't mean decks that are designed to be only positive (like Doreen Virtue's). I'm thinking more along the lines where the deck's artwork and its overall vibe is happy, and whether people feel like that influences how they interpret the cards.

 

It seems like it does, which is interesting! I can't be the only one who's had positive readings from "dark" decks, I wonder why they seem to be affected by that less. (Of course, I'm sure there are decks that are meant to be just gloomy or edgy... like that Tower deck, which gave me a good laugh.)

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20 hours ago, dust said:

This is a question that has been on my mind for some time. When you're reading with "happy" decks (bright colours, fun/cute imagery) do you feel like it skews your reading? Does it make things feel too optimistic or sort of pad out your answers?

 

I'm not sure, because it REALLY depends on how a deck works, not merely if it has happy aesthetics, at least for me. Once I did a reading with the Flower Speaks, which is a deck with a positive predisposition and childlike colourful art, and it told me, quite accurately and with no room for doubt, that the man I was with had found someone else and I was about to be dumped. All which happened. So, pretty deck actually gave me a rather bad message - in a gentle way, but I could still tell it was not good.

 

That said, there are some decks that are excessively positive in a sense they have no cards to represent anything bad, or that the card descriptions are too "good vibes" and vague. So you ask "what should I expect of this person I feel bad juju about?" and you get a card called "The shimmering flower of eternity" which tells you "the universe wants you to express the endless light of your inner lotus, which reaches into the deep muds of rebirth to bloom into a thousand possibilities..." Well, THAT really I have no patience for, and it feels like a cop-out. A decent oracle needs to be able to point that something is BAD, even if it just cries with you instead of kicking you on the face with the bad news.

 

There's a deck called "Kuan Yin Oracle: Blessings, Guidance & Enlightenment from the Divine Feminine" by Alana Fairchild that is, for me, a prime example of what I just described above. Not only it kind of sexualises Kuan Yin (which is bizarre, although the art is really pretty), but also... the cards mean freaking nothing. They have pretty titles and two pages of pretty babble that ultimately don't mean anything on a practical sense. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Edited by marinaoracles
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A deck that I think is a good example of cheerful IP but still takes the themes seriously is Rosales' Hello Tarot. It's Hello Kitty, so how could it not be cheerful, but he based it on Smith's drawings and thus the meaning still come through. This image includes the Ace-10 of Swords, for example:

h5ztlvg74yl51.jpg

 

(This is one of the many recolors; Rosales' original is B&W. I use a recolor by Brittany Tingey.)

 

You can see by contrast the 'cute' nature of the King and Queen of Wands. The reason I think this deck works so well--it's my personal go-to deck--is it maintains the meanings despite the theme. Rosales put real effort into that, and it shows.

 

So I think it's less about the IP or theme, and more about the artist making choices which continue to reflect the meaning of the cards. Even the happiest theme can represent the darker themes if done right. If the artist doesn't keep to the card meanings, then I do think a cheerful deck can often fail to work, at least for me.

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5 hours ago, Niobium said:

A deck that I think is a good example of cheerful IP but still takes the themes seriously is Rosales' Hello Tarot. It's Hello Kitty, so how could it not be cheerful, but he based it on Smith's drawings and thus the meaning still come through. This image includes the Ace-10 of Swords, for example:

h5ztlvg74yl51.jpg

 

(This is one of the many recolors; Rosales' original is B&W. I use a recolor by Brittany Tingey.)

 

You can see by contrast the 'cute' nature of the King and Queen of Wands. The reason I think this deck works so well--it's my personal go-to deck--is it maintains the meanings despite the theme. Rosales put real effort into that, and it shows.

 

So I think it's less about the IP or theme, and more about the artist making choices which continue to reflect the meaning of the cards. Even the happiest theme can represent the darker themes if done right. If the artist doesn't keep to the card meanings, then I do think a cheerful deck can often fail to work, at least for me.

 

I love the Sanrio-themed Tarots I've seen hahaha. You're right, some of those cards still convey the RWS concept while still being pretty darn cute. So cool that this is one of your go-to decks! I definitely need to look this up. And I think you've summed it up well -- it seems like issue is more when artists/creators go out of their way to avoid negativity, not a cute or bright art style in itself.

 

8 hours ago, marinaoracles said:

 

I'm not sure, because it REALLY depends on how a deck works, not merely if it has happy aesthetics, at least for me. Once I did a reading with the Flower Speaks, which is a deck with a positive predisposition and childlike colourful art, and it told me, quite accurately and with no room for doubt, that the man I was with had found someone else and I was about to be dumped. All which happened. So, pretty deck actually gave me a rather bad message - in a gentle way, but I could still tell it was not good.

 

That said, there are some decks that are excessively positive in a sense they have no cards to represent anything bad, or that the card descriptions are too "good vibes" and vague. So you ask "what should I expect of this person I feel bad juju about?" and you get a card called "The shimmering flower of eternity" which tells you "the universe wants you to express the endless light of your inner lotus, which reaches into the deep muds of rebirth to bloom into a thousand possibilities..." Well, THAT really I have no patience for, and it feels like a cop-out. A decent oracle needs to be able to point that something is BAD, even if it just cries with you instead of kicking you on the face with the bad news.

 

There's a deck called "Kuan Yin Oracle: Blessings, Guidance & Enlightenment from the Divine Feminine" by Alana Fairchild that is, for me, a prime example of what I just described above. Not only it kind of sexualises Kuan Yin (which is bizarre, although the art is really pretty), but also... the cards mean freaking nothing. They have pretty titles and two pages of pretty babble that ultimately don't mean anything on a practical sense. Ain't nobody got time for that!

 

I'm sorry that you were dumped! It's good to hear that bright decks can still deliver accurate messages. I've been really curious about them lately since it's a kind of deck I haven't really explored much, so it's encouraging to hear they can still be good for reading.

 

I completely agree with what you're saying about decks that are too "good vibes", like you put it. That would bother me a lot as well! It just sounds incredibly unbalanced. Really hard to read, too, how tf are you supposed to know what shimmering flowers of eternity are supposed to mean? 😛

Edited by dust
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Hmmm...I tend to gravitate towards decks that fit the nature of the inquiry, and if the inquiry is more general, perhaps I'll go with the mood of the querent, or perhaps I'll just default to my traditional RWS or Everyday Tarot sets.  I seem to have a bit of a proclivity towards gloomier decks, it seems, but that's mostly because I prefer to face feelings head-on rather than trying to distract from them, regardless of whether those feelings are positive or negative.  In other words, I'm far more likely to choose something like Ghost Tarot to deal with feelings of sadness or regret than I am to seek out a deck with bright colours and cute animals as a pick-me-up.  However, I'm not against cheerful decks.  Perhaps some positivity is what's needed, so I can see why someone may want to go with something more along those lines.  I guess it's more a matter of intuition than anything.

 

On 9/11/2021 at 11:30 PM, katrinka said:

That's just pointless and boneheaded. 🤣
It's a gag deck, but it's a dumb gag deck: "HURR HURR ALL THE CARDS GOTS THE TOWER. GET IT? HURR HURR."

I was actually legit looking at that deck, but ultimately decided against it.  I could actually see it as an option for reading into situations after one feels as though their foundation has been shaken up, and for that reason, part of me wants to like it more than I do.  My issue with it, and the reason why I ultimately passed on it, is that the tower theme overpowers and overshadows everything else that might come up, which may really muddle a reading.  The Tower itself takes up too much card real estate, and the image that pertains to the actual card drawn is confined to a certain part of the card.  Moreover, the mood of the cards really seems to be affected by the whole situation of falling out of a tower window.  

 

Nah, if I really want to use a particular card as a motif for a reading, I could just opt for a spread with a Significator card.  Not only would there not be any restrictions on which card that could be, but said card will also effectively act as a backdrop without intruding any more than it needs to on what the other cards are saying.  Also, I could do that with any of the decks I already own rather than having to invest in one for that express purpose.  I'm all for checking out different decks for different things, but this is not one of those things where I think a particular deck is needed.  

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I love bright colors, jewel toned decks and vibrant colors are some of my favorites, so I have a lot of decks with them, and do not find that to be something that influences the positivity or negativity of the deck.   I have gentle decks that can pack a punch though delivers the message in an empathetic manner (Joie de Vivre is an example).   I have had dark decks give positive readings and softer decks give straight forward honest readings.  Then there are just bad decks in general that in my opinion just do not really represent tarot (looking at you Doreen Virtue and other theme money grab theme decks).

 

I believe that there is more than just the art that plays into the interpretations, though yes art will influence the tone of the reading or the manner in which the message is delivered:

- The question

- The spread

- Mood of the reader, and reader bias

- Reading style (intuitive, use of elemental correspondences, numerology, astrology, etc.)

 

I use a combination of reading styles within a reading.  To me the art of the deck really sets the manner in which the message is delivered not the message itself.  Being objective and filtering out bias is probably one of the hardest things and one that has a tremendous influence on a reading.  That is where elemental correspondences and numerology really helps me.

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I used to think the aesthetic of a deck would affect how the deck reads–until I read with The Textured Tarot. Gentle imagery, yet when I read with it, it delivers the message with a punch in the gut. Once the question was 'How can I stay grounded during this time?' and the deck replied with The Tower.

I'm sure another deck would have delivered the same message but would've been nicer about it. I actually did the reading a second time for that client, so that she could get the message repeated to her by another deck, but with more gentleness/kindness, and that's what happened. That second deck was the Ashley Cook tarot, which aesthetically is loud and not gentle-looking like the Textured. So she walked away grateful for both decks, and I guess I was grateful for both decks too, although I rarely do-over a reading.

 

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Yes - that reminds me of the Mystic Faeries. The deck which I ridiculed for being too sweet and fwuffy and the rest. i said it was unreadable but pretty, with nice stories.

 

In the end I read with it for a bet. Those faeries are VICIOUS. I took it all back, very publicly. The person I read for was flattened - the faeries clobbered her !

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17 hours ago, gregory said:

Yes - that reminds me of the Mystic Faeries. The deck which I ridiculed for being too sweet and fwuffy and the rest. i said it was unreadable but pretty, with nice stories.

 

In the end I read with it for a bet. Those faeries are VICIOUS. I took it all back, very publicly. The person I read for was flattened - the faeries clobbered her !

LOL ... I felt the same way about that deck until I read with it.  I no longer judge decks for fluffiness or otherwise until I actually work with them for a while.  Looks can be very deceiving, and in the past I cheated myself out of working with some decks I now I like very much due to pre-judging them.  At least now I know better. 

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The one by Linda Ravenscroft and Barbara Moore! Great, now I have to go buy it! 🤣 Even if I only end up reading with it to clobber myself. My Textured Tarot is being very standoffish right now–doesn't want to be bothered by readings except when it wants to be bothered by readings.

 

Speaking of decks that don't behave the way we expect them to: my Parrott tarot is Thoth-based and packed with symbolism and supposed to be Very Serious according to its guidebook (in spite of the parrots charading in the corner of every card). Well, I read with it and the deck is... bubbly. Overflowing with sweetness and light. Not to say that it delivers only positive messages, but the negative ones aren't delivered with sobriety, if you know what I mean. And once it told my client that someone in their workplace had issues with empathy and handling his own emotions, and after the heavy stuff in that reading, it didn't even have to be cleared of the energy of that reading. I've actually never had to clear its energy.

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